Grace and peace in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Who of you confirmed members remember the Ten Commandments? What is the Fifth Commandment? Number five? Do not kill, that is correct. In our text for today, our Lord speaks of this commandment: “You have heard it said by the ancients: Thou shalt not kill: and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.”
But before this, Jesus said, “I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” He had criticized the Pharisees and scribes for their hypocrisy, but now he commands his followers that they should be more just than the Pharisees and scribes.
But, are we not justified by faith alone, not by good works? What does this mean? First, the gospel does not negate the law. The law is still God’s holy will for our lives. However, Christ delivered us from the slavery of sin by His suffering and death on the cross.
Sin came into the world by the devil, who rebelled against God first, and by man, who by his own will was seduced to sin. So now for us, there are two kinds of sin: original sin and current sin.
Original sin is the total corruption of all human nature, that we have inherited from Adam through our parents. Original sin blames us, condemns us and leaves us all without true fear and love of God, spiritually blind, dead and enemies of God.
Thank God that in holy baptism, we receive by faith the new spiritual life in Christ, free from the condemnation that we inherited from Adam and Eve.